Bica and Ladeira get a taste of what's coming up at this weekend's World Cup in Maribor

MARIBOR, Slovenia - The first round of the 2019 iXS Downhill Cup drew 500 racers to Maribor last weekend to compete against the world's best downhillers on a track that gave riders a chance to experience World Cup racing, since the next round of the UCI World Cup DH series will take place this weekend in the same location.

Tiago Ladeira over the line in Maribor

Miranda racers Vasco Bica finished 50th while Tiago Ladeira captured 88th place in the elite category. Racing this year as a junior, Goncalo Bandeira, sat this round out due to an injury. Bandeira, who stood on the podium last year for his third place overall in the series, took some time to recover in order to bring his A game to his first World Cup race this weekend.